In just eight hours, Jay Shatz and Jason Cameron beautified a "Desperate Landscape" this week for the 149th time.

Shatz's Covington-based Jay TV filmed an episode for his DIY Network series at the home of Jes Mayer, 1422 Sutton Ave., in Anderson Township a few feet west of the Mount Washington line.

Cameron, a licensed contractor who hosts the show, led a small army installing walls, steps, fencing, gravel, sod, trees, bushes and other plants.

"This is our 149th show. And we've shot about half of those episodes here in Cincinnati," said Shatz, a former WCPO-TV reporter who left Channel 9 in 2000 to start producing TV programs with his life partner Stan Elliott. "Desperate Landscapes" premiered on DIY Network in 2007.

"Seven years. It's our longest running show. We've changed a lot of landscapes in a lot of neighborhoods," he said.

Producer Jay Shatz shoots his DIY Network show with Jason Cameron on Sutton Avenue.
John Kiesewetter

Mayer's ugly yard was nominated by her next-door neighbors, which is usually the case, he said. They asked the show to help the single mother of two.

"There are four houses here on Sutton built in the 1800s. She's done a great job of restoring and rehabbing the inside, but there was nothing here but a flag pole and a pile of dirt left over from a sewer project gone bad. So her next door neighbor sent a video," Shatz said.

"This is the fourth show of our 12th season (to air next spring)," he said. "We still love doing it, we still love working with Jason, we love seeing the reaction of the neighborhoods. And we've got a lot of Desperate Landscapes all across the country. We get flooded – we get probably 25-30 entries a week from all over the country."

Cameron and Shatz will team up for a new DIY Network show called "Sledgehammer," in which Cameron gives homeowners 30 minutes to destroy the ugliest room in their home. If they complete the demolition in a half-hour, Cameron will remodel the room.

"Sledgehammer" debuts at 10 p.m. Wednesday in the "Desperate Landscapes" time slot. All 12 episodes were filmed in this area. Watch for my story Sunday about the new show.